Method and Apparatus for Remote Control and Monitoring of a Multimedia System

1. A method for remote control and monitoring of a multimedia system, the method comprises: transmitting, by a hand held device of the multimedia system, a remote control/monitoring request regarding at least one of a plurality of clients of the multimedia system to a server of the multimedia system; when a communication path is established between the hand held device and the server, determining, by the server, remote control and monitoring privileges of the hand held device; when the server determines that the hand held device has at least a minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges, processing, by the server, the remote control/monitoring request with respect to the at least one of the plurality of clients to produce operational monitoring data; and providing, by the server, the operational monitoring data to the hand held device via the communication path; establishing a communication path between the hand held device and the server by: transmitting, by the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to the server via a local connection; and when the server receives the remote control/monitoring request via the local connection, establishing the communication via the local connection; determining, by the hand held device, whether operational monitoring data is received within a predetermined response time period; when the operational monitoring data is not received within the predetermined response time period, transmitting, by the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to the server via a wide area network by: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the remote control/monitoring request in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted request, wherein the formatted request includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; and when the server receives the remote control/monitoring request via the wide area network, establishing the communication path via the wide area network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the local connection comprises at least one of: an infrared connection and a radio frequency connection.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining remote control and monitoring privileges further comprises: generating the remote control/monitoring request to include at least one of: an identity of the hand held device, a password associated with the hand held device, specific remote control function, specific monitoring function, and identity of the at least one of the plurality of clients; authenticating, by the server, the hand held device based on at least one of the identity of the hand held device and the password; when the hand held device is authenticated, comparing, by the server, at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function with valid remote control and monitoring functions for the hand held device; and when the at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function is one of the valid remote control and monitoring functions, indicating that the hand held device has at least the minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining remote control and monitoring privileges further comprises: generating the remote control/monitoring request to include at least one of: an identity of the hand held device, a password associated with the hand held device, specific remote control function, specific monitoring function, and identity of the at least one of the plurality of clients; authenticating, by the server, the hand held device based on at least one of the identity of the hand held device and the password; and when the hand held device is authenticated, indicating that the hand held device has at least the minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprises: encrypting, by the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to produce an encrypted request; transmitting the encrypted request as the remote control/monitoring request; and decrypting, by the server, the encrypted request to recapture the remote control/monitoring request.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote control/monitoring request comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the providing the operational monitoring data further comprises at least one of: providing identification of the video program being viewed by the at least one of the plurality of clients; providing feedback that the multimedia system has been disabled; providing feedback that the at least one of the plurality of clients has been disabled; providing feedback that viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients have been set; providing a response from the at least one of the plurality of clients to the message, wherein the response includes at least one of: a video response, an audio response and a text response; providing the images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and providing an indication that the at least one of the plurality of clients access to the at least one particular channel has been disabled.

8. A method for a hand held device to remote control and monitor at least one of a plurality of clients of a multimedia system, the method comprises: receiving an input for remote control/monitoring of the at least one of the plurality of clients of the multimedia system; initiating a remote control/monitoring algorithm in response to receiving the input; executing the remote control/monitoring algorithm by: generating a command message based on the input; providing the command message to a server of the multimedia system includes: transmitting the command message to the server via a local connection; determining whether the response is received within a predetermined response time period; and when the response is not received within the predetermined response time period, transmitting the command message to the server via a wide area network includes: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the command message in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted message, wherein the formatted message includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; receiving a response from the server; and displaying the response.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the providing the command message further comprises: encrypting the command message to produce an encrypted message; and transmitting the encrypted message to the server.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the command message comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

11. A method for remote control and monitoring of a multimedia system, the method comprises: sending, by a hand held device of the multimedia system, a remote control/monitoring request regarding at least one of a plurality of clients of the multimedia system to server of the multimedia system via a wide area network by: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the remote control/monitoring request in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted request, wherein the formatted request includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; authenticating, by the server, remote control and monitoring privileges of the hand held device; when the server determines that the hand held device has at least a minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges, processing, by the server, the remote control/monitoring request with respect to the at least one of the plurality of clients to produce operational monitoring data; and providing, by the server, the operational monitoring data to the hand held device via the wide area network.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the authenticating the remote control and monitoring privileges further comprises: authenticating, by the server, the hand held device based on at least one of: identity of the hand held device and a password; when the hand held device is authenticated, comparing, by the server, at least one of: specific remote control function requested and specific monitoring function requested with valid remote control and monitoring functions for the hand held device; and when the at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function is one of the valid remote control and monitoring functions, indicating that the remote control and monitoring privileges are authentic.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining remote control and monitoring privileges further comprises: validating, by the server, the hand held device based on at least one of identity of the hand held device and a password.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprises: encrypting, by the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to produce an encrypted request; transmitting the encrypted request as the remote control/monitoring request; and decrypting, by the server, the encrypted request to recapture the remote control/monitoring request.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the remote control/monitoring request comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the providing the operational monitoring data further comprises at least one of: providing identification of the video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; providing feedback that the multimedia system has been disabled; providing feedback that the at least one of the plurality of clients has been disabled; providing feedback that viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients have been set; providing a response from the at least one of the plurality of clients to the message, wherein the response includes at least one of: a video response, an audio response and a text response; providing the images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and providing an indication that the at least one of the plurality of clients access to the at least one particular channel has been disabled.

17. An apparatus for remote control and monitoring of at least one of a plurality of clients of a multimedia system, the apparatus comprises: processing module; and memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to: transmit, as a hand held device of the multimedia system, a remote control/monitoring request regarding the at least one of the plurality of clients to a server of the multimedia system; when a communication path is established between the hand held device and the server, determine, as the server, remote control and monitoring privileges of the hand held device, wherein the communication path is established by: transmitting, as the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to the server via a local connection; and when the server receives the remote control/monitoring request via the local connection, establishing the communication via the local connection; when the server determines that the hand held device has at least a minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges, process, as the server, the remote control/monitoring request with respect to the at least one of the plurality of clients to produce operational monitoring data; and provide, as the server, the operational monitoring data to the hand held device via the communication path; determine, as the hand held device, whether operational monitoring data is received within a predetermined response time period; when the operational monitoring data is not received within the predetermined response time period, transmit, as the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to the server via a wide area network, wherein transmitting the remote control/monitoring request via the wide area network includes: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the remote control/monitoring request in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted request, wherein the formatted request includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; and when the server receives the remote control/monitoring request via the wide area network, establish the communication path via the wide area network.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to determine the remote control and monitoring privileges by: generating the remote control/monitoring request to include at least one of: an identity of the hand held device, a password associated with the hand held device, specific remote control function, specific monitoring function, and identity of the at least one of the plurality of clients; authenticating, as the server, the hand held device based on at least one of the identity of the hand held device and the password; when the hand held device is authenticated, comparing, as the server, at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function with valid remote control and monitoring functions for the hand held device; and when the at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function is one of the valid remote control and monitoring functions, indicating that the hand held device has at least the minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to determine the remote control and monitoring privileges by: generating the remote control/monitoring request to include at least one of: an identity of the hand held device, a password associated with the hand held device, specific remote control function, specific monitoring function, and identity of the at least one of the plurality of clients; authenticating, as the server, the hand held device based on at least one of the identity of the hand held device and the password; and when the hand held device is authenticated, indicating that the hand held device has at least the minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to: encrypt, as the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to produce an encrypted request; transmit the encrypted request as the remote control/monitoring request; and decrypt, as the server, the encrypted request to recapture the remote control/monitoring request.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the remote control/monitoring request comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to provide the operational monitoring data further comprises at least one of: providing identification of the video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; providing feedback that the multimedia system has been disabled; providing feedback that the at least one of the plurality of clients has been disabled; providing feedback that viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients have been set; providing a response from the at least one of the plurality of clients to the message, wherein the response includes at least one of: a video response, an audio response and a text response; providing the images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and providing an indication that the at least one of the plurality of clients access to the at least one particular channel has been disabled.

23. A hand held device comprises: processing module; and memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to: receive an input for remote control/monitoring of at least one of a plurality of clients of a multimedia system; initiate a remote control/monitoring algorithm in response to receiving the input; execute the remote control/monitoring algorithm by: generating a command message based on the input; providing the command message to a server of the multimedia system by: transmitting the command message to the server via a local connection; determining whether the response is received within a predetermined response time period; and when the response is not received within the predetermined response time period, transmitting the command message to the server via a wide area network by: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the command message in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted message, wherein the formatted message includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; receiving a response from the server; and displaying the response.

24. The hand held device of claim 23 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to provide the command message by: encrypting the command message to produce an encrypted message; and transmitting the encrypted message to the server.

25. The hand held device of claim 23 , wherein the command message comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

26. An apparatus for remote control and monitoring of a multimedia system, the apparatus comprises: processing module; and memory operably coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to: send, as a hand held device of the multimedia system, a remote control/monitoring request regarding at least one of a plurality of clients of the multimedia system to a server of the multimedia system via a wide area network by: determining an internet protocol (IP) address of the server; and formatting the remote control/monitoring request in accordance with a protocol of the wide area network to produce a formatted request, wherein the formatted request includes the IP address of the server as a destination address and an IP address of the hand held device as a source address; authenticate, as the server, remote control and monitoring privileges of the hand held device; when the server determines that the hand held device has at least a minimum level of remote control and monitoring privileges, process, as the server, the remote control/monitoring request with respect to the at least one of the plurality of clients to produce operational monitoring data; and provide, as the server, the operational monitoring data to the hand held device via the wide area network.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to authenticate the remote control and monitoring privileges by: authenticating, as the server, the hand held device based on at least one of: identity of the hand held device and a password; when the hand held device is authenticated, comparing, as the server, at least one of: specific remote control function requested and specific monitoring function requested with valid remote control and monitoring functions for the hand held device; and when the at least one of the specific remote control function and the specific monitoring function is one of the valid remote control and monitoring functions, indicating that the remote control and monitoring privileges are authentic.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to determine remote control and monitoring privileges by: validating, as the server, the hand held device based on at least one of identity of the hand held device and a password.

29. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to: encrypt, as the hand held device, the remote control/monitoring request to produce an encrypted request; transmit the encrypted request as the remote control/monitoring request; and decrypt, as the server, the encrypted request to recapture the remote control/monitoring request.

30. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the remote control/monitoring request comprises at least one of: requesting identification of a video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; disabling the multimedia system; disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients; setting viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients; sending a message to the at least one of the plurality of clients, wherein the message includes at least one of: a video message, an audio message and a text message; requesting viewing of images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and disabling the at least one of the plurality of clients access to at least one particular channel.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the memory further comprises operational instructions that cause the processing module to provide the operational monitoring data by at least one of: providing identification of the video program being viewed by the at one of the plurality of clients; providing feedback that the multimedia system has been disabled; providing feedback that the at least one of the plurality of clients has been disabled; providing feedback that viewing restrictions for the at least one of the plurality of clients have been set; providing a response from the at least one of the plurality of clients to the message, wherein the response includes at least one of: a video response, an audio response and a text response; providing the images being captured by the at least one of the plurality of clients; and providing an indication that the at least one of the plurality of clients access to the at least one particular channel has been disabled.